State of
Mind
Charlie Earl
The United
States of America does not exist. It has joined the ranks of unicorns, dragons
and the Tooth Fairy. Off the top of my steaming head I can identify a minimum
of 28 evidentiary reasons to support my opening statement (enumerated powers
and first 10 Amendments). Your citizenship and your allegiance are attached to
an illusion….a mythic figure of your imagination. The elements of the national
identity that you embrace, love and promote no longer exist. Your internal
picture of our country is nothing more than a nostalgic Norman Rockwell
rendition of a dream that has vaporized. It is time for a reality check.
Personal
liberty and opportunity have been the defining characteristics of our nation.
No longer. Individual freedom has been trampled by an overreaching government
apparatus and opportunity has been curtailed under a tsunami of red tape and
prohibitions. We are not a free people nor do we function in a free market.
Indeed, compared to other nations we may be relatively freer than they, but
when measured against our founding principles and ideals, we are well along the
serfdom to slavery continuum. Relativity may be useful for calculating the speed
and output of moving objects, but as a measure of liberty, it merely defines
the size and strengths of our shackles.
As people,
as citizens and as guardians of our nation’s future, we must decide where we
will stand in the years ahead. While we may have a sentimental attachment to
The United States of America, it represents a mere shadow of its former self.
Do we, can we or must we continue to prop up and support a dying dream? Should
we, instead, systematically dismantle a ravaged house, restore the salvageable
parts and build a new structure that will withstand the storms and assaults
that challenge it? Mere tweaking is nothing more than temporary life support.
Eventually our national patient will slide into a vegetative state that
requires all the efforts and productivity of everyone. The body will lie there
totally unresponsive with no vital signs while the support staff struggles on
with no hope of the patient’s recovery.
The
restoration dream may simply be wishful thinking in the face of a stark
reality. A very small percentage of our national leaders have the courage to
stop the onslaught of runaway government, and fewer still have the strength and
the power to reverse the ominous trend. One of our glaring shortcomings is that
we tend to favor “experienced” politicians at the ballot box when they have
been complicit in the growth of government at the local, state and federal
levels. So…if we are to legitimately restore constitutional governance, we must
fiercely resist the temptation to elect professional politicians. We must begin
with new blood, traditional ideas and unwavering commitment. All of them are
rare and to have them coalesce into a “perfect storm” of freedom is unlikely.
A competent
draftsman (or to be politically correct: draftsperson) can sketch the design
for a complex piece of machinery if a skilled and creative engineer has
developed the original design. Perhaps what we truly need in these dismal days
is a movement dedicated to draftsmanship….people that will grasp the original
and replicate it in a new environment. We do not have to reinvent the wheel, but
we must insist that our new wheels perform the functions for which they were
originally designed. We have the original plans. We have the talent, skills and
natural resources. What we lack if we are to reconstruct the dream are the
integrity, the morality and the courage. Serfs,….it’s time to resist and
rebuild.
Charlie Earl
Great viewpoint Charlie. All people who call themselves citizens should read this and provide it with serious thought. If so, they will soon realize how to the point and correct your words are.
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding. When one writes a column such as this, one can only pray that it is wrongheaded. Sadly...this is how I see it.
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